Justification as faultlessness

According to deontological approaches to justification, we can analyze justification in deontic terms. In this paper, I try to advance the discussion of deontological approaches by applying recent insights in the semantics of deontic modals. Specifically, I use the distinction between weak necessity modals (should, ought to) and strong necessity modals (must, have to) to make progress on a question that has received surprisingly little discussion in the literature, namely: ‘What’s the best version of a deontological approach?’ The two most obvious hypotheses are the Permissive View, according to which justified expresses permission, and the Obligatory View, according to which justified expresses some species of obligation. I raise difficulties for both of these hypotheses. In light of these difficulties, I propose a new position, according to which justified expresses a property I call faultlessness, defined as the dual of weak necessity modals. According to this view, an agent is justified in \(\phi\)-ing iff it’s not the case that she should [/ought] not \(\phi\). I argue that this ‘Faultlessness View’ gives us precisely what’s needed to avoid the problems facing the Permissive and Obligatory Views.     

TIES that BIND: an introduction to domain mapping as a visualization tool for virtual rehabilitation.

The application of virtual reality (VR) to rehabilitation is a young, interdisciplinary field where clinical implementation very rapidly follows scientific discovery and technological advancement. Implementation is often so rapid that demonstration of intervention efficacy by investigators, and establishment of research and development priorities by funding bodies tend to be more reactive than proactive. An examination of the dynamic unfolding of the history of our young discipline may help us recognize the facilitators of current practice and identify the barriers that limit greater progress. This paper presents a first step towards the examination of the past and future growth of VR-based rehabilitation by presenting the use of concept maps to explore the publication history of application of VR to rehabilitation.     

Changes in Clients' Images of God Over the Course of Outpatient Therapy

The authors examined the impact of outpatient counseling on clients' psychological symptoms and on their image of God. Thirty participants in a counseling treatment group and 68 participants in a no‐treatment control group completed the Brief Symptom Inventory and the Adjective Checklist at 2 separate times. Counseled participants experienced significant reductions of psychological symptoms over the course of treatment whereas the control group showed no changes. Furthermore, ratings of God's agreeableness significantly increased (toward compassion) for clients in the treatment group, whereas no such changes were noted for the control group.     

Entitlement as a response to I–II–III scepticism

In this paper, Crispin Wright’s unified strategy against scepticism is put under pressure through an examination of the concept of entitlement. Wright’s characterisation of a generalised form of scepticism is first described, followed by an examination of the concept of entitlement and of the role played by presuppositions in his strategy. This will make manifest the transcendental structure of this response to scepticism. The paper ends with a discussion of the effectiveness of this transcendental strategy in providing a satisfying response to scepticism.     

How accurate are time-use reports? Effects of cognitive enhancement and cultural differences on recall accuracy

In order to assess the accuracy of time-use reports, 80 young adults were observed for 2-hour periods, and were interviewed about their activities by a different person the following day. Two experiments were performed. In the first, three different levels of cognitive enhancement were used to improve recall accuracy. Subjects were 60 California college students, 20 per group. In the second study the maximum enhancement condition was replicated with 20 Guatemalan subjects, similar in age, sex and level of education to the California subjects. Both the accuracy of their recall of specific activities, and the accuracy of their time-duration estimates were calculated. Results indicated that the enhancement conditions in Study 1 significantly increased both the number of activities recalled accurately (from 40 to 63 per cent) and the amount of time accurately recalled (from 58 to 70 per cent). In Study 2 the Guatemalans recalled 60 per cent of their activities accurately, and recalled as much time accurately as the Californians. The Guatemalans were significantly more likely to underestimate their time. In other words, when they made errors, these were almost always underestimations. Most of the recall error could be accounted for by forgetting an activity altogether, rather than by estimating its time inaccurately.     

Constructing comparative sentences: Linguistic marking and affect

Past research has demonstrated a greater naturalness of comparative constructions with the unmarked adjective. Not only do subjects typically create sentences of the form A is longer than B more frequently than B is shorter than A, but such constructions are also more quickly verified. One explanation for this preference is in terms of Linguistic Marking (e.g., Clark, 1969a, b). Because the semantic featural coding hypothesized for unmarked adjectives is simpler than that of marked adjectives, the observed facilitation effects would be expected. However, an equally viable explanation is in terms of the greater positive affect of the unmarked adjective (see Osgood et al., 1957). Since linguistic marking and affect are typically confounded in past research (the unmarked adjective is also the most affectively positive), the present experiment discriminates between these two interpretations by providing also contexts in which linguistic marking and affect are not confounded. Here, analysis of the comparatives constructed by 96 subjects revealed the preference for the unmarked adjective only where it was also the most affectively positive. Where the marked was the more positive, the reverse was observed, as predicted by Osgood (et al., 1957).     

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-derived psychopathology subtypes among former prisoners of war (POWs): Replication and extension

Psychopathology and symptom patterns identified among former prisoners of war (POWs) by Sutker, Winstead, Goist, Malow, and Allain (1986) were replicated in an independent sample of 51 former POWs with similar personal backgrounds and military experiences. Data collection instruments included the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), self-report measures of anxiety and depression, and a structured clinical interview including a POW Trauma Index. Two prototypic MMPI profile patterns were identified using modal profile analysis (Skinner & Lei, 1980). Both were highly similar in shape and elevation to those reported in the previous investigation. Multiprofile-multisample analysis produced prototypic profile patterns which were accurate representations of profiles identified in separate analyses of the derivation and replication samples (r's .96). Representing unique constellations of clinical features, profile subtypes were associated differentially with confinement stress severity, postservice adjustment, and nature and extent of stress-induced symptomatology.     

The comparability of verbal and nonverbal semantic differential scales in a joint semantic space

As an alternative to the verbal Semantic Differential (SD) measure of affective meaning systems, a nonverbal instrument-the Graphic Differential (GD)-has been developed for subject populations who have difficulty in verbal ratings. However, the factor structures of the pictographic scales have never been examined in a joint-verbal and nonverbal-semantic space as to whether their structures are equivalent to the affective systems defined by the verbal markers. The present study assessed this issue by reanalyzing the French (1977) data. The results indicated that when verbal SD and nonverbal GD scales were factor-analyzed separately, the three-dimensional structures of Evaluation (E), Potency (P), and Activity (A) were recaptured in both domains. However, when they were analyzed simultaneously in a joint semantic space, only the E and A dimensions were congruent. The GD P scales carried the meanings of denotative Heaviness, rather than the affective Potency. For future investigation, suggestion was made to systematically study both the affective and denotative semantic features within the contexts of nonverbal communciations.The authors made equal contributions toward the completion of the present research.     

Involvement of alpha-bungarotoxin-sensitive nicotinic receptors in long-term memory formation in the honeybee (Apis mellifera)

In the honeybee Apis mellifera, multiple-trial olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension response specifically leads to long-term memory (LTM) which can be retrieved more than 24 h after learning. We studied the involvement of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the establishment of LTM by injecting the nicotinic antagonists mecamylamine (1 mM), alpha-bungarotoxin (alpha-BGT, 0.1 mM) or methyllycaconitine (MLA, 0.1 mM) into the brain through the median ocellus 20 min before or 20 min after multiple-trial learning. The retention tests were performed 1, 3, and 24 h after learning. Pre-training injections of mecamylamine induced a lower performance during conditioning but had no effect on LTM formation. Post-training injections of mecamylamine did not affect honeybees' performances. Pre-training injections of MLA or post-training injection of alpha-BGT specifically induced LTM impairment whereas acquisition as well as memory retrieval tested 1 or 3 h after learning was normal. This indicates that brain injections of alpha-BGT and MLA did not interfere with learning or medium-term memory. Rather, these blockers affect the LTM. To explain these results, we advance the hypothesis that honeybee alpha-BGT-sensitive acetylcholine receptors are also sensitive to MLA. These receptors could be essential for triggering intracellular mechanisms involved in LTM. By contrast, medium-term memory is not dependent upon these receptors but is affected by mecamylamine.